09/08/2025

The World Appears to be Becoming a Ruder Place

There is evidence rudeness is a common feature of everyday life

If you miss the old days of being nice to strangers, you're not alone. According to a recent Pew Research survey, almost half of Americans report that rudeness is on the rise, and 34 percent say they often see people behaving rudely in public. Public behaviors that the survey defined as rude ranged from cursing or playing loud music to smoking, taking photos of people without permission and bringing children into adult venues.

How many of these forms of rudeness have you witnessed? Chances are that you have seen at least some of them. But you would also undoubtedly agree that rudeness can take many forms besides violations of public norms. Maybe you asked a person in back of you in a checkout line to let you go back to the shelves to pick up something you forgot. To your surprise, the person yells, "No! Who do you think you are?" "Whoa," you think to yourself, "What is happening?"

The Psychology of Rudeness

People who are generally rude may have the personality attribute of low agreeableness, meaning that they are hardwired to be mean. But rudeness could be a function of more situational factors. In a new study of “impoliteness” (i.e., rudeness), Lancaster (UK) University’s Jonathan Culpeper and colleagues (2025) propose that the "Principle of Impoliteness Reciprocity" (PIR) governs the giving and getting of rude behavior. There’s a "tit-for-tat" pattern when we interact with other people in which an insult provokes another insult and attack provokes counterattack.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.